It is too late for me
by Shadow-ying
Summary: Luke and Vader were fated to have one final confrontation aboard the second Death Star but how does the Sith lord feel now that another person he cares about has once again tried to save him from himself? Set before Luke arrives on the second Death Star. Mentions of Padme and the past. Reviews and feedback are appreciated.


**Part of a lyric challenge between myself and feathered moon wings, I still owe them several of these.**

 **Set after Luke and Vader's talk on Endor.**

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Standing at the edge of the landing platform on the small imperial outpost, staring up at the night sky, Darth Vader found himself walking a very dangerous path. He was thinking about what his son had said. It was an impossibility, it would never work, the galaxy was too small for two beings such as they to ever truly escape from Palpatine's grasp.

His master would never stop looking for them.

And he, a broken cyborg, would never be able to survive without the private medical facilities gifted to him by his master. He was chained forever to the Empire. Darth Vader couldn't leave it, and his son couldn't hope to escape it.

And yet still the idea whispered away in his mind.

"Come with me."

A naïve child had spoken those words to him. A boy, wanting something that could not exist. He wanted a father; he wanted Anakin Skywalker, a man long buried.

Such naivety would ordinarily be a death sentence when facing the Emperor but Luke carried with him some sort of strength that seemed to push the darkness away. Even now, when faced with the prospect of imminent doom, as his friends were being hunted down on this bleak forest world, when all hope was slowly being stripped away from him Luke somehow was able to walk in the light.

He was strong.

Which meant his fall to the dark side was going to hurt all the more.

Something caused a ripple in the mind of Darth Vader. It felt like guilt. It was guilt. And normally such a feeling would have been crushed and dragged straight to the bottom of his mind, never to again surface. But now things were different.

He was different.

And that worried him.

"Lord Vader?"

A squeak. That would be the best way to describe the voice of the poor imperial who had drawn the shortest straw of his life and been sent to deliver the bad news to the dark lord.

Not turning his helmeted head, the dark lord continued watching the stars twinkle and burn against the darkness of space. The imperial officer, who was barley managing to remain in control of himself, dug deep within and found the courage necessary to squeak again. "My lord?"

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"S-sir…Your shuttle launch w-will be delayed."

The fear emanating from the man crashed over Darth Vader like a tidal wave. This should have been the end for him and they both knew it. To delay a superior officer while they were on a top priority mission was unacceptable, to hinder the Emperor's top enforcer was suicidal.

But there was no crunch of leather as Darth Vader's fist closed in anger. There was no cut off gasp as invisible fingers crushed the man's throat instead there was a distant call of a bird native to the moon, that was then answered in turn by another creature a few seconds later.

"Very good." The dark lord said.

The imperial stood rooted to the ground, unsure if he was being toyed with and that any second now the still form of Darth Vader would become a raging maelstrom directed solely at him. But the punishment never came; his throat remained un-crushed as the cool night time air that he was able to breathe in confirmed that he was indeed somehow still alive.

After a few seconds of standing still, waiting for something to happen, Vader finally broke away from his star gazing and turned to face the Lieutenant.

"Anything else?"

"No my Lord!" The man said, giving a full bow followed by him turning on his heels and moving as quickly as his legs would allow in the opposite direction of the Sith, so happy to be alive his mind didn't even begin to question the why's of such a miracle befalling him.

His master would not be pleased with such a delay; he had wanted Skywalker to be present when the full Rebel fleet arrived. Still a slight change in the schedule would not matter in the grand scheme of things; they still had a few hours before the trap was ready to be sprung.

"Lord Vader." This time it was a Stormtrooper captain that called out to him.

Walking in-between the pair of Stormtroopers as if they were no more his enemies than the trees of this moon came a cuffed Luke Skywalker. It was remarkable to Vader to see how much he had grown; his son was truly a Jedi now, more so than he'd had ever been.

"The prisoner is ready for transfer sir." The captain stated, giving a salute with his rifle. "Shall we place him on board?"

"That will not be necessary; there has been an unforeseen delay."

"I see sir." The Captain looked at Luke. "We can return him to his cell if you wish."

"No. Skywalker shall remain here. That will be all Captain."

With a quick salute the pair of troopers left. Rather than face him, Luke turned to watch the Stormtroopers go, as if he possessed genuine curiosity as to the lives of two insignificant specks in the Empire.

Vader in turn watched his son and felt something he hadn't experienced in a very long time. Social unease. As a Sith lord all that were not his master were his lesser, he had no use for friends, didn't tolerate rivals and anything that wouldn't bend to his will was broken and discarded. He did not need to seek out the right words or worry about the consequences of his actions, being Darth Vader meant answering only to one, who would encourage his darkest actions with a madman's delight.

He had torn kings from their thrones, silenced seasoned senators with only a handful of words, and caused even the most vile of despots to shower him with honeyed words.

And yet here he was now struggling to say something to his son.

Darth Vader was changing, and he didn't like it.

"A delay?"

The question almost caught him of guard. Luke, looking over his shoulder at him, had spoken.

"Yes. No need to concern yourself with it, the Emperor will see you soon enough."

It was what Darth Vader was expected to say, and yet, the words did not feel right.

Turning Luke began to approach him and Vader could feel a light shine from within his son, it was his hope. The same light had been there when he had asked him the impossible. Was he to try and repeat it now?

"I guess this shall be the last time either of us have this chance to talk."

Vader didn't respond.

"I- When you first told me the truth I didn't want to believe it. I kept looking for proof that you were lying to me. Now I know it's true I have so many questions about you, about before."

The past.

Vader immediately felt uncomfortable. Others in the Empire had tried digging in that particular vein, seeking to clarify what had happened to the Republic's golden hero Anakin Skywalker and what connection the Emperor's attack dog had to him. But none had ever been an anchor, chaining Vader to the buried Anakin.

Turning his back on the Jedi, Vader tilted his head and once more began gazing up at the millions of tiny lights. A few seconds later and Luke had joined him, standing side by side with him.

Had he wanted to Luke could have called upon the force and leapt clean off the landing platform, and despite the long fall he would have been able to land safely and would have been free to sprint off into the woods faster than any man could ever hope to follow.

He could escape now and be free.

But Luke wouldn't leave.

Not without him.

"Can I ask you something?" How many times in a lifetime did a father hear that question from their children? How many pointless, innocent or ground breaking thoughts did they listen to with a genuine interest in their little one's developing mind? "It's about my mother."

For a second Anakin threatened to surface. But Vader was too quick for him and quickly forced it all back down deep inside of him, then the hate began to rise.

"No."

No longer staring at the sky, Vader turned and towered over Luke. The boy's peaceful demeanor vanished and for a second the Jedi saw what all others did when facing Darth Vader. A nightmare in black, an inhuman killing machine, a monster.

But it only lasted a second.

As easily as removing a glove, Luke was able to calm himself and relax. He was not a frightened Jedi in the presence of an all-powerful Sith; he was a boy talking to his father.

"I know nothing about her; I was hoping we could-"

Vader began pacing, slowly circling around his son cutting off the words with his anger at the past. "So Obi-wan was not forthcoming with the details?"

"No." Luke's head sank a little and the boy's light began to dim. "We never spoke off her."

"He kept much from you, lied and manipulated you into doing his bidding and yet you still cling to the notion that he was to be trusted."

"Ben kept the truth from me to help. I don't think he wanted me to hate my own father."

Vader tried to shut it out, but he could hear it as if Obi-wan was standing right next to him. "You were my brother Anakin. I loved you."

The hate roared inside of him and grew as the painful memory became fuel. The dark side whispered to him, encouraged this. He did not need Luke or his love or his help, he had strength and anger those were what had kept him alive.

"Can I know my mother's name?"

"Such knowledge will be of no use to you when you serve the Emperor."

"I want to know. I know your name." Luke followed the movements of the pacing Vader taking him all in. "Please?"

Vader ceased moving, but any hope Luke had died when the Sith lord turned to face the same Lieutenant from earlier.

"My lord." He bowed low again. "Your shuttle is ready for take-off now. There will be no fu-further problems I assure you." Licking his lips the Imperial shifted nervously as Vader scrutinised him with a long stare.

Their conversation was at an end. There was no putting off what was to come and Vader had known this. The Emperor was not patient, and any further delays would result in questions and he couldn't let his master see how he was changing, he needed to be strong.

"Come." Vader said to Luke. "Your destiny awaits."

Guilt was felt once more and its oily touch dimmed the fires burning inside of him.

Luke with his head held high walked alongside Vader towards the shuttle. Thankful that the Sith was leaving Endor the Lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief as the two figures in black walked up the ramp and vanished inside ship's interior. A few seconds later the ship's engines came to life and the craft began to slowly rise from the landing platform.

Neither said anything as the shuttle left the moon of Endor and began to soar through empty space towards the second Death Star. Not taking a seat, Luke stood next to his father, seeming quite comfortable in the silence that they surrounded themselves with.

Vader remembered when he had wanted this, when he had only seen Luke as his chance to break free from the chains of the Emperor and he believed that together they would bring the full power of the dark side down upon their enemies and rule the galaxy with an iron fist. But that dream had long since died.

Luke wasn't like him.

And that meant that the Emperor, for all his strength with the dark side, might not have the power to turn him, meaning the only thing left for Skywalker would be death.

"The deflector shield has been lowered sir, we will begin landing momentarily." The pilot said over the intercom. Not acknowledging the update, Vader continued to stand and contemplate all that was to happen very shortly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

After all he had done why would you try? Vader wanted to ask, but he didn't need to. Others in the past had tried, reaching out to him, trying to get him free from the darkness that he had cloaked himself in. He had hated them all for it, deluding himself that their love for him was a selfish desire to strip him off his power, Obi-wan, Ahsoka…

"Padme."

Luke who had been staring at the shuttle's door turned and looked at his father in confusion. "What?"

"Your mother's name was Padme." Vader said.

"Padme." Trying it out for the first time Luke found the name opened up a fresh vein of hope he didn't know existed. A small piece of a blank canvas had been filed and while he still had many, many more questions about the life of Anakin Skywalker and his mother, Padme, the road before him wasn't as dark as it had first appeared.

Anakin Skywalker, the good man that Obi-wan had loved and trusted was not beyond his reach; Darth Vader could still be saved.

The loud sirens announced that the shuttle had entered a landing bay and a few seconds later the ship touched down on the deck.

"We have arrived." Darth Vader said.

Turning to his lessons from Yoda, Luke quelled the surge of emotions that rose up from within him. Clearing his mind Luke Skywalker answered. "I'm ready father."

With a hiss the shuttle door opened and the ramp was lowered. Then Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker stepped out and began the final journey towards the Emperor.

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 **Thanks for reading, review if you have any feedback, suggestions or if you have a question.**

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 **It's not true" By Keane**

 **Friends you once loved don't know you**

 **Even your own eyes don't know you**

 **You think this whole world's trying to bury you**

 **But it's not true**

 **So don't you say**

 **There's something in your core that can't be saved**

 **Cause it's not true**

 **And every atom of my heart is missing you**


End file.
